Sarcopenia in Patients After Severe Brain Injury

Introduction This article deals with the problem of sarcopenia in patients after severe brain injury. It presents the results of the comparative analysis of a group of patients and a group of volunteers with performed muscle fiber ultrasound.
Relevance Sarcopenia is a serious complication in a critically ill patient. It appears early and progresses rather quickly during the patient’s critical condition. In order to diagnose sarcopenia, both radiation and ultrasound methods can be used. The use of ultrasound methods is less labor-intensive, energy-consuming, and economically costly and does not involve an increase in radiation exposure to the patient. The paper highlights the use and comparison of these methods in patients after severe brain injuries.
Aim of study To assess the severity of sarcopenia in patients after severe brain injuries.
Materials and methods 25 patients were included in this study with an average age of 56.75±19.84 years, ranging from 22 to 82 years, after severe brain injury in a minimally conscious state according to the FOUR (Full Outline of Unresponsiveness) scale, median 12 (12; 15) points. The assessment was carried out in the first 3 days from the moment of admission to the Federal Research and Clinical Center of Intensive Care Medicine and Rehabilitology. For comparison purposes, the study included 19 volunteers aged 35.63±7.02 years, ranging from 21 to 47 years.
Results The data obtained indicate that patients after severe brain injuries had pronounced muscle fiber disorders affecting its thickness and echogenicity. The thickness of the biceps on the side of the brain injury was 0.93±0.27 cm (min 0.5; max 1.58) and the thickness of the biceps on the side opposite to the brain injury was 0.62±0.2 cm (min 0.27; max 0.93) with p=0.0007, statistically significant. In terms of echogenicity, the differences were not statistically significant (p=0.1). The thickness of the triceps on the side of the brain injury was 0.5±0.17 cm (min 0.25; max 0.82) and the thickness of the triceps on the opposite side to the brain injury was 0.38±0.14 cm (min 0.2; max 0.8) with p=0.028, statistically significant, while the degree of echogenicity according to the Modified Heckmatt scale on the side of the brain injury was 2.5 [2.0; 3.0] (min 2.0; max 4.0), and on the opposite side — 3.0 [3.0; 4.0] (min 2.0; max 4.0), p=0.01, statistically significant. The thickness of the brachioradialis on the side of the brain injury was 0.59±0.15 cm (min 0.39; max 0.92), on the opposite side — 0.50±0.17 cm (min 0.25; max 0.86), p=0.06, statistically significant; while the degree of echogenicity was 2.0 [2.0; 3.0] (min 1.0; max 4.0) on the side of the brain injury and on the opposite side to the brain injury — 2.5 [2.0; 4.0] (min 2.0; max 4.0), p=0.03, statistically significant. Pronounced statistically significant differences were also obtained in the thickness of the rectus femoris muscle (p=0.06) and its echogenicity (p=0.017). In comparing these indicators with the muscles of healthy volunteers for all indicated parameters p<0.05, in most cases p=0.000001, statistically significant. Using computed tomography of the lumbar spine, a decrease in the cross-sectional area of the psoas muscle was revealed. The following values were obtained from the patients: psoas muscle cross-sectional area on the right side: 7.66±2.72 cm²  (min 3.84; max 12.95), psoas muscle cross-sectional area on the left side: 7.85±2.64 cm²  (min 3.7; max 12.6), Skeletal Muscle Index: 53.33±15.34 (min 28; max 81).
Conclusion Diagnostic ultrasound methods to assess sarcopenia in patients after severe brain injuries have confirmed their effectiveness. In the present study, this method received a pronounced correlation with radiological techniques to identify patients affected by sarcopenia. We obtained statistically significant differences in the group of volunteers and patients, and some parameters differed by more than 2 times, which indicates the presence of severe sarcopenia in this group of patients.

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